Sunday Morning Coffee

Yesterday CBS had a couple of shows targeted to the 75 Anniversary of the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament. One of the two shows consisted of a roundtable with some very successful coaches including Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan.

Pitino is a true titan of college coaching, he’s taken three different teams to the final four (a total of six final four appearances) and won the title as coach of Kentucky in 1996. Donovan was a star on the Pitino coached Providence team that went to the final four in 1987. After a cup of coffee in the NBA Donovan went to work for Pitino as an assistant for five years before getting a head job at Marshall before going on to University of Florida where he coached them to back to back national titles in 2006 and 2007.

As a side note, the vast majority assistant coaches make almost no money, they are doing it for love of the task and for the hope of getting a shot as a head coach. If you are a fan of college basketball then you’ve probably noticed how many assistant coaches each team has (seven or eight is not uncommon) and again maybe one of them makes something resembling a living. The reason there are so many is because someone gave each head coach a shot to start out and the move up and so the guys who do reach the pinnacle (a head coach job) are returning the favor.

Back to Donovan and this show yesterday; as successful as Donovan has become it was striking to see the profound effect (from Donovan’s point of view) that Pitino not only had on his life but still has on his life.

I believe a huge factor in being successful (my thoughts here are not limited to financial success) comes from who we are fortunate enough to be influenced by at different points in our lives. It would be easy to point to a parent, teacher, coach or early boss but this can come from anywhere. In addition to above examples I personally have been influenced by people I’ve known through my involvement with the fire department.

There is a picture that I have seen posted a few times on Facebook that says be the person your dog thinks you are which I think is pretty clever.

As we go into a new year there is of course talk of resolutions and goals which can include the manner in which we can help others. There is a tie in to investing with all of this in a point I have made before. Many of you reading this and other blogs are the go to person in your family or social circles for investment advice and you have the opportunity to do a lot of good for other people the way that an influential coach might.

The picture is our haul of Cowboy Coffee Porter which is produced by Big Sky Brewing, the company that makes Moose Drool. The Cowboy Coffee Porter only comes out every couple of years and this is the year. If you like dark beer (all things in moderation) then give it a try, although it is difficult to find.